


CAMP LOONA

by ikeaphobia



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: F/F, Gen, camp shenanigans!!, it's an all-girl camp, other girl groups will show up bc loona isn't enough for a camp lol, there are hints of crushes and relationships but they're all babies (especially the campers), will be some mentions of mental illness and confusion about it because they are again babies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26129194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ikeaphobia/pseuds/ikeaphobia
Summary: A week-long camp stuffed to the brim of bizarre evening activities (like making campers hunt counselors in the dead of the night), oddly named counselors, and quite admittedly some surprisingly gourmet food.Welcome to Camp Loona!
Relationships: Ha Sooyoung | Yves/Kim Jiwoo | Chuu, Jo Haseul/Viian Wong | ViVi, Jung Jinsol | Jinsoul/Kim Jungeun | Kim Lip
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	1. Prologue

“I don’t know Mom… it sounds really scary.”

An 11 (and a half!) year old girl stands in a small kitchen. Her mom is at the counter chopping up some vegetables with vigor for a delicious stew. The little girl is obviously distressed as she wrings her hands in worry. 

“Hey, it’s okay if you don’t want to go, honey.” Her mom says, keeping her eyes focused on the stubborn artichoke in front of her, “But your sister will be there and all of her friends. They’ll take care of you. Plus, lots of kids your age love going to these kinds of things in the summer.”

Choerry sighs. She doesn’t want to let down her Mom… but so many kids stuck in one place for a week, complete with exhausting days to keep young children distracted from homesickness was not her idea of a rousing good time. 

But what kind of kid would she be if she didn’t get the summer camp experience?

Right?

“No it’s fine.” Choerry said with a hint of sadness. Her shoulders slump. But she tiptoes to see what vegetable is next on the chopping block. 

Her mom looks down at her admittedly tiny daughter (4’7 and ¾ quarters thank you very much, as Choerry would say). She gives her a one-armed hug trying to cheer her up. 

“How about this,” she proposes with a smile, “If you don’t like it after the third day you can tell your sister and I’ll come and pick you up” 

She ruffles Choerry’s hair fondly and waits to see her daughter’s reaction. Choerry is seemingly deep in thought.

Her inner monologue goes something like this: 

If I don’t go, she thinks, what if I regret it when I’m older? Her thoughts speed up as she starts to imagine a scenario where she’s alone with no memories of a happy childhood and maybe she really will always be alone because no one will like her because she’s not interesting at all and maybe she’ll be really sad and will never try anything new because she didn’t choose to go to camp this one time and it’ll be the end of the world and, and, and…

“Okay.” She says, despite her mountain of worries. 

Her mom smiles at her warmly. Her daughter was such a good girl, and she wanted her to have some fun with her sister this summer. Maybe it would help her come out of her shell?

“Alright, let’s check the packing list after supper okay?” As an afterthought, “Oh and could you set the table please honey?”

Choerry inwardly groans, but tries to be a good, patient kid who never shows any sign of negative emotion that would make her Mom disappointed in her...

“Sure thing, mom!”

She scurries off to set the plates. But her Mom has to reach up for them as she sees her daughter fruitlessly reaching, again on her tippy-toes trying to get up to the high cabinet. 

‘There you go”

Choerry hmmphs. She was seriously lacking in the height department. When would she ever get a growth spurt?

And what was this camp going to be like?

So many questions. Also is her mom chopping peas?’

Bluh.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

An even tinier girl is fist pumping while looking at the packing list her sister had just handed her. 

“Scuba diving gear… slingshot… pitchfork… oh, and a full suit of armor??! Yes!” She utters off her dream packing list instead of the actual, rather plain list that sits in her hands. 

“Yeojin, no.” Her sister simply states, already feeling a headache coming on. 

“Awwww c’mon Haseul you’re no fun.” Yeojin pouts, giving her sister puppy eyes. She waves the list in front of her face. “Imagine how many friends I’ll make if I bring a SHARK!” 

“Or maybe an octopus.” Her sister humors her. 

“Nah, it’s gotta be a shark.” Yeojin corrects.

She sets off on the scavenger hunt of finding each thing on the list, and is excited with every check mark that she makes. 

Her sister takes each crumpled piece of clothing back out of the suitcase and folds it neatly with a huff. All the while chowing down on an admittedly delicious cheese stick. 

This was going to be a long week.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 

The long and winding country road was admittedly beginning to make Choerry feel a bit sick. Not that her stomach already felt like butterflies having a head-banging thrash rave. Even her mom’s careful driving because of her daughter’s proclivity to car-sickness didn’t seem to be helping today. 

“Okay and remember I’ll write you letters every day.” Her mom says, eyes still on the road, “And if you have any problems you can talk to Hyunjin.”

Hyunjin, Choerry’s older sister, was already at camp because she was finally a counselor this year! Before camp, the counselors all had weird traditions to pump themselves up for the long, very much sleep-deprived week. 

“But Hyunjin will be really busy though…” Choerry was worried about her sister and all the duties that came with being a counselor. Plus they had to hide in the forest for campers to find them like some kind of witch-hunt on the second to last day of camp. 

Although Hyunjin did say that was the part that she was most excited for.

She said she had her gear and game plan all ready to go in her head. (Which included camouflage, a tranquilizer gun, and baguettes)

“Don’t worry,” Her mom says soothingly, “I already talked to Hyunjin about it.”

Choerry’s stomach lurches, not because of a sudden stop, but because she could see a hand-written sign for the camp on a tree.

“We’re almost there!”

“Yay?” Choerry tries her best to sound enthusiastic.

Then as they turn yet another twisty curve, the official sign for the camp, made out of oak planks and hot-glued construction paper came into view:

CAMP LOONA

(actually it read CAMP LOON∀ because the A had already begun to slip. Choerry gulped at the ominous premonition)

A girl in a light-pink shirt with the camp name emblazoned on it is standing up the road holding a clipboard, which when they drive closer has the name “Bambi” written on it.

Hyunjin had told her that all the counselors were given nicknames in a very secretive naming ceremony. With cultish under vibes, it happened months before the camp actually started. The counselors weren’t allowed to choose their own names, but usually the other girls naming them weren’t cruel (though one girl one year had been named Boomer much to her dismay)

Hyunjin was hoping for some kind of creative bread-related name but had ended up with the name “Aeong” in honor of her most frequently used catch-phrase. 

Choerry wasn’t really looking forward to the prospect of possibly being a counselor in the future, but she wondered what kind of name she would have? 

Sunshine? 

Teletubby?

BARNEY?

She shuddered at her childhood nickname. 

Choerry was distracted as her mom lowered the car window to speak to the girl in the road. 

She had a gentle smile and soft, soothing voice. Choerry could tell why she had the cute, graceful name of Bambi.

“Just keep driving and when you see the signs pull over to the side of the road and bring your stuff to the main cabin,” She remembers the catchphrase written on her palm, “And welcome to Camp Loona, the home of the brave, the place where dreams come true…”

The rest of her palm is smudged and Choerry and her mom are left waiting awkwardly as Vivi doesn’t finish her sentence.

“Anyway! Welcome to camp!”

“Thank you!” Choerry and her mom chime.

The path is a little bumpy and has muddy potholes that her mom expertly avoids. Choerry’s mom groans as she mutters something about having to go through a car wash. 

Signs saying, ‘You have arrived!’ in a cute font, dot the side of the road showing where cars were supposed to park. A dozen cars were already parked on the side of the road and Choerry’s mom pulls up behind the last car. 

“You want me to come in with you?” 

Choerry looks out the window at the flowery, green clearing where a large wooden cabin stands proudly. There are only small girls dragging too big duffel bags and suitcases towards the cabin. It seems parents are expected to keep the line moving and just drop their kids off.

Choerry gulps. 

“I-it’s fine.” She steadies her voice, “I’ll be fine!” 

Her mom is somewhat convinced but she gives her precious daughter a quick peck on the forehead.

“You’re going to do great honey!”

Choerry widens her nervous face into a smile to reassure her mom she was going to be okay. 

She hops out of the car as her mom opens the trunk.

Choerry grabs her duffel bag which feels too light in comparison to the larger bags she saw the other girls carrying (or dragging in a few cases). 

Campers were supposed to bring a few extra, random items for Auction Day. It was the day where the evening activity was a game where campers had to wrap, hold, or stuff items inside their clothes and waddle to the main cabin without dropping anything. These items would then be dumped on a huge table designated for each cabin

The campers would then madly furrow through the items as each random thing was called off by the ‘auctioneer’. The cabin that had the most things on the list would win a pizza party!! 

Some of the oddest things in one of the years Hyunjin had still been a camper, was no less than: 

The feather of a rare bird,  
A framed picture of Danny Devito,  
A (still alive) spider,  
A picture of the Eiffel Tower (at night!), and last but not least  
Lemon shorts

All of which, of course, Hyunjin had. This brought her cabin to victory and won some pretty sweet Domino’s pizza.

The spider she had found in a rush by combing the perimeter of the building and trapping the poor fellow with her bare hands. (Which was promptly released after the event and much to the other camper’s dismay, inside their own cabin).

So Choerry was feeling excitement at all the events the week would hold but also an indescribable dread that she didn’t quite know how to explain to her Mom. 

But she put all these thoughts aside and shifts her duffel bag strap to a more comfortable place on her shoulder.  
There was no going back now.

(Well there was, but she didn't want to be a wimp. And Hyunjin would laugh at her).

So she begins to make her way over to the large main cabin that seems to be vibrating with the energy of a too stuffed room of 11 - 13 year olds.

*gulp*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Camp Loona! I know this premise has been done before but I couldn't resist. I really love Milf Smackdown (if you haven't heard of it go read it, Daniela & Cat are amazing writers & it's hilarious) so there will be some inside jokes from that (Sharkina!). 
> 
> I really hope you enjoy and new chapters will be coming soon :)
> 
> Oh! And I'm not abandoning Mobius Loop. Just need something a little more light-hearted to write right now. 
> 
> Twitter: queenvivi @_correctloona_  
> (not on there too much because Twitter is scary lol) but feel free to say hello!  
> Youtube: queenvivi


	2. Day One

Another counselor in a blue shirt stood on the porch of the main cabin checking one of the campers in. With her clipboard in her hand she was searching for a writing instrument, not realizing it was already tucked behind her ear.

Choerry could see the camper giggling before finally pointing out the pencil. The counselor laughs so loudly that a bird formerly chirping peacefully on the roof flies off in a panic. 

“HA!” Jinsoul barks, “Thanks kid.”

The camper picks up her bags and goes through the door leaving Choerry to nervously scoot closer. The counselor gives a warm smile and signals for her to wait for a second. She writes a few things on her clipboard (but when Choerry sees it as she turns around it’s just some doodles).

“Hi! Welcome to camp!” She says as she turns back around, “Your Aeong’s sister, right?”

“Woah how did you know that?” She hasn’t quite gotten used to Hyunjin’s goofy camp name yet.

“Well….You guys literally look like twins, so” She laughs, “Just a little shorter. Little Aeong!”

Choerry crosses her arms, sensitive about her height and pouts a little. She tiptoes and makes a determined expression. 

“Nah, still lil’ Aeong.” She ruffles Choerry’s shockingly purple hair, “Hey I’m Poseidon by the way. You’re going to be in Cabin 1 so when you go inside look for the number on the tables.” 

As an afterthought, she chuckles “And good luck kid!” 

Patting down her hair Choerry side-steps Poseidon and makes her way into the cabin. 

The scene takes her breath away. All the loud sounds become more intense as she sees girl after rowdy girl practically jumping around the room. Despite the check-in period only being 20 minutes ago, there are already numerous conversations going on and everyone seems to be lively and happy to be there. 

She’s shaken out of her reverie by the sight of…

“Hey, Choerry over here!” 

Hyunjin calls over from the table marked ‘Cabin 3’ with a wide smile. Choerry feels a slight sense of relief and walks over tentatively.

“Hi.” She says quietly as Hyunjin gets up to give her a hug. Choerry tries to match the huge smile on Hyunjin’s face.

“Hey guys this is my sister! Say hi!” She turns Choerry around to face all of the girls sitting at the round table including another counselor with a clipboard. They all say hello with varying levels of enthusiasm. Hyunjin seems satisfied enough and pats Choerry on the shoulder.

“Everything going okay?” She asks with a softer voice. 

Choerry nods.

All of the girls at the table seem to have her eyes on her.

She nods again more furiously, sweating “Yes!” She says too loudly, “Everything is fine!” 

“Woahhh okay,” Hyunjin tries to calm her down with some snazzy jazz hands, “You’re in Cabin 1 right? Bambi and Eeyore are your counselors so you’re in good hands.” 

Choerry eyes Table 1 in the back corner of the room. A small girl is juggling an assortment of fruits as an older girl is trying to get her to stop…. Unfruitfully. Choerry chuckles at her mental pun but clears her throat awkwardly when she sees Hyunjin still staring at her. 

“Uh okay,” she says, “Do I need to go there now?” She’s a little nervous to leave Hyunjin’s side but doesn’t want to seem like a baby. 

Hyunjin just scoots her on her way, practically pushing her across the room

“Yo Eeyore! Bambi! This is my sister!” She gets the older girls attention and the girl drops everything she was juggling causing a huge mess. 

“Yeojin!” Haseul sighs and turns to Hyunjin, “Hey Aeong-ie, so this is your sister huh?”

Haseul eyes Choerry up and down before breaking into a charming smile, “Nice hair dude!”  
Choerry fingers her hair awkwardly and says a soft, “Thanks…”

Hyunjin pats Choerry’s head one more time before running back to her table when she notices a girl is trying to stuff an entire orange in her mouth (with the peel still on). 

Haseul mutters under breath about who thought putting fruit on the tables was a good idea, but turns to Choerry.

“You can sit by Yeojin,” She gives Yeojin a quick side-eye, “And you-”

“Yeah, yeah” the girl named Yeojin says, “Don’t steal anybody else’s luggage, I got it.”

Carefully setting her duffel bag under her seat, Choerry sits in her chair and immediately folds in on herself at the close proximity of the girls at the small table. But Haseul perks up and shuffles a few papers.

“Let’s go around and introduce ourselves now that everyone’s here okay?” She looks at Yeojin, “You start.”

With an air of grace and poise, Yeojin takes off an imaginary top-hat and places it on the table, “Thank you all for coming here today.”

“Yeojin.”

“I find meeting you fellows quite a joy, I’m sure we’ll get along swimmingly. Pleased to make your acquaintance I am Sir Mix-A-Lot but you may call me by my civilian name.”

Haseul gives up, rolling her eyes. 

The next girl pipes up, “Hey everybody, I’m one of the CITs this year. We don’t sleep with you in the cabin but we’ll be around the rest of the day helping out.”

A few seconds pass. Another girl elbows her.

“OW! Oh yeah, and my name’s Chaeyoung. Nice to meet you.”

The girl who violently elbowed her says, “And I’m Nagkyung the other CIT.”

Hyunjin had told Choerry about CITs and how they sometimes had an even harder time than the counselors. CIT stood for ‘counselors in training’. They had the short end of the stick for most things. The last to take showers, they usually ended up with frigid showers and eye bags the next morning. Not only did they have to run errands for the counselors, they also had to do the cleaning. 

It was so the camp didn’t have to have to pay for a cleaning staff. Ah yes, Choerry thought, free labor. Or ‘indentured servitude’ as Hyunjin had called it. Nobody was paid at this camp though… (except for the head staff). Sounded kinda fishy now that she thought about it…

“...I’m Chaewon” A girl says in a high-pitched voice. Choerry had missed everything that she had said before that. Shoot.

The girl next to her had long ebony hair with a stoic expression, but her cute mouth seemed to be in a perpetual pout, “...” she says.

The table waits for her to say something, but she seems to be stubbornly determined to not go with the status quo of the hell of icebreakers. Or at least that’s what she assumed was happening.

Bambi, speaking for the first time since she’d come to the table, “Uh Hyejoo? Do you have anything to say?”

“Nah you just said my name so I’m good.”

Choerry wonders if she’s just shy or actually super emo. Maybe both?   
Then she realizes it is her turn all too soon because the girl won’t say anything else. She gulps, trying to figure out the timing to say something.

When she opens her mouth, “Hi-

“Fine. I’m Hyejoo. Nice to meet you.”

Choerry stutters to a stop, eyeing Haseul not sure how to continue.

Haseul gives Hyejoo a look and urges Choerry on. 

“H-hi my name is Choerry. I’m Aeong’s little sister. Nice to meet you all!” She tries to keep her voice even and calm. Like a normal person would sound like, she thinks. Her customary blinding smile comes up automatically as her coping mechanism. 

Haseul mirrors her smile and claps loudly.

“Okay guys, now that we’re done with introductions I’m going to go do our first announcements. Make sure to pay attention.”

As Haseul says this, a short woman with a megaphone taps it making squealing noises that cause campers and counselors alike to clap their hands to their ears in pain.

“Yikes!” Haseul says as she walks up besides the woman. The woman who now looks a bit taller next to Haseul gives her a glare, “Someone made an oopsie!”

Choerry can feel Yeojin groan next to her at her sister’s antics.

The woman regains her composure and clears her voice (in the megaphone which causes another excruciatingly loud noise). 

“Welcome, welcome!” She begins, in a manner eerily similar to Effie from the Hunger Games, “Welcome to Camp Loona!

My name is Clover and I’m the head staff.” She gestures to Haseul, “This is Eeyore, the head counselor. All issues in camp will be handled by her or me.”

Yeojin gives a loud shout, “Woo, go Haseul!”

Haseul gives an icy glare in her sister’s direction for breaking the most sacred rule of camp - revealing a counselor’s real name. 

“I mean ha… Seulgi am I right? Great dancer…” Yeojin trails off awkwardly. She shoots some finger guns. A woman sitting at a table near the front returns the finger guns with a smile. Choerry guesses that that is Seulgi.

“ANYWAY, I’m sure all of you have gotten to know the people at your table. They’ll be the people closest to you throughout the week. You will all be in the same cabin and will be a team for all evening activities.” Clover says loudly.

Haseul steals the megaphone much to the woman’s annoyance.

“So let’s introduce all the counselors to everyone! If you ever have a problem it will be good to know more than just the counselors in your cabin. Everybody come up please!”

The counselors shuffle up one by one into a long line. It seems like there are quite a lot of girls. 

“Jin- I mean Poseidon could you go first?” Haseul almost trips up. It was difficult for everybody to have weird names to remember for so many people, “Let’s go quickly since there’s so many people. Just say your name, cabin number and favorite movie.”

Poseidon perks up, “Hi guys! You can call me Po for short because my favorite movie is Kung Fu Panda. Classic film.” She begins to tear up at the second-best animation that Dreamworks has had to offer.

“Okaaay,” the next counselor interrupts, “My name is Athena. Me and Poseidon are in Cabin 2! I don’t know what my favorite movie is… I like romantic comedies though.”

The next girl in line is none other than Bambi. It seems she is universally loved because most of the other counselors have heart eyes when she begins to speak.

“Hello~ My name’s Bambi and I’m heading up Cabin 1 with Eeyore. If you ever need anything please let me know… 

Oh, and my favorite movie is Saw.” 

The room gets emotional whiplash from the unexpected movie title but the introductions quickly move on.

Next is Hyunjin! All she says is ‘Aeong’ though, so everyone except the other counselors are confused. 

Hyunjin’s cabin-mate swoops in, “Hi everybody my name’s Picasso. We’re in Cabin 3. Aeong and I both like horror movies.”

Chuu and Yves are the next two counselors to introduce themselves. Choerry isn’t quite sure what their names mean but they’re both cute and like rom-coms like Athena. They’re in Cabin 4.

There are a few other counselors but Haseul is speeding everybody up as time is quickly running out before the first activity is supposed to start. 

“Thank you everyone, and campers, please be sure to be nice to your counselors. They’ll be taking care of you this week so make sure to give them your best behavior!” Haseul seems to be looking directly in Yeojin’s direction, who is now whistling at the ceiling.

“And the evening activity today will be decorating and naming your cabin! Have fun guys.” Clover adds, bringing an end to the announcements.

Haseul and Bambi walk over to the table and go over the schedule for the rest of the day.

First up is dropping all of their bags off at the cabin and setting up the sleeping arrangement.  
Second is none other than lunch!  
After that the cabins will be splitting up for different activities.

Instead of the counselors walking their campers around, now the CITs would be in charge. 

Meanwhile, Haseul & Vivi were in charge of the Nature rotation, but since Haseul was also head counselor, Vivi might have to be alone at times. Which would be fine, but campers had a tendency of wandering off and the woods were very large.  
Choerry hoped it would be fine at least.

After three rotations, it would finally be time for dinner.   
Then it would be time for….

THE EVENING ACTIVITY.

According to Hyunjin, the most exciting part of camp was the special activities held each night. Auction Day was one of them. While others like today included bonding with your cabin mates. 

While Choerry was thinking to herself, the rest of the room had begun to disperse. All the various sized campers carried their duffels and suitcases out the door. Choerry quickly picked up her bag and waddled after her fellow campers. Nagkyung had noticed she was behind and waited for her at the door. 

“Come on, Choerry!” She said with an enthusiasm that could only exist on the first day. She holds out her arm for her to link arms with the younger girl. Choerry hesitates at first but complies and they make their way down the porch steps and towards the cabin. 

An enormous hill that Hyunjin had warned her about stood between them and Cabin 1. Nagkyung looked at Choerry and back at the hill. 

“Wanna race?” She asks cheekily. Before Choerry could protest, Nagkyung pulls her by the arm, grabbing her duffel and putting it over her shoulder and off they go! 

Despite Nagkyung’s short stature she is a surprisingly good runner and Choerry is starting to feel like her lungs are about to explode due to the sharp incline of the hill.

“W-wait…” she huffs and puffs, “Can we-”

“C’MON CHOERRY DON’T BE A WIMP!” Hyunjin is yelling at her from the side of the hill with the intensity of a seasoned runner. Choerry feels a renewed sense of energy (and a bit of sibling rivalry) and speeds up on her short legs to an impressive pace for an 11-year old. 

Now Nagkyung is breathing heavily and Choerry is in the lead. She runs like a baby lion on its first hunt and makes it to the cabin in record time.

Then collapses.

“Ow…” she moans. The short girl from before sticks her head out the cabin window and looks at her in surprise.

“The heck are you doing down there?” Yeojin asks in a bad approximation of a southern drawl, “Getting on my porch without permission, what’s next? Ya be stealing my vittles?”

Choerry feels like she’s having a fever dream.

Somehow she manages to drag herself inside and hears Nagkyung running up the stairs.

“Dang you’re fast!” She says, seemingly still having energy despite the marathon. She throws Choerry’s duffle on the bottom bunk in the corner. 

Bambi sees Choerry face-down on the floor and kneels next to her.

“Nagkyung…” She says with a gentle warning tone eyeing her CIT.

Yeojin puts a white flag in Choerry’s hand and waves her arm back and forth for her.

Choerry mumbles an ‘I’m good’ as all the campers convene and sit in a circle to prepare for the rest of the day.

Chaeyoung kindly offers to piggy-back Choerry down the monstrous hill and she gratefully accepts. 

How all the CITs seemed to be so athletic she wasn’t quite sure. Hyunjin had mentioned that some of them had treated the challenge of being a counselor-in-training as prepping for the Olympics. 

She had run ten miles every day (1 mile more than usual), while offering to run all the neighborhood’s dogs and grumpy cats around the town. Choerry was worried that the animals of Blockberry Lane were becoming inhuman...inanimal? So much so that they would realize their human owners were far weaker and they had the ability to evolve past their pet-status.

Hyunjin did end up running with a few of the cats in a stroller though, much to passer-bys surprise when they saw chubby cats instead of adorable children. She had a soft spot for cats, that’s for sure.

As the Cabin 1 crew is making their way towards lunch, Choerry notices with surprise that everyone seems like they’ve known each other for years. 

Chaewon and Hyejoo seem to be in a deep conversation, which consists of Chaewon animatedly talking and Hyejoo grunting every once in a while.

Bambi and Eeyore are having some kind of counselor discussion. 

Meanwhile Yeojin and Nagkyung seem to be having the time of their lives horsing around. The younger girl is describing her exploits as a wrestler in hopes of joining the WWE.

Choerry wonders where they get all their energy, as she is currently clinging onto Chaeyoung’s back like a baby koala.

Once they arrive in the lunchroom and settle at their table, Clover again comes to the front of the room with her megaphone. She explains that their cook for this year is none other than the famous gourmet cook Seo Soojin and her assistant Yeh Shuhua. 

The entire camp had been in awe of Chef Soojin throwing up vegetables in the air and chopping them on their way down. Meanwhile, Assistant Chef Shuhua had been playing with fire in the wok. and looked like she was either an amazing cook or was just having fun in a very dangerous manner. 

The menu for today was Tomato Shrimp Risotto, Creamy Pasta, some various side dishes as well as some brownies for dessert! And it was just lunch! 

A room full of hungry gals descends on the food like a pack of baby vultures. The food in the buffet line is gone within minutes.

As Table 1 is munching on their lunch, Chaewon explains her plan to invade a country with her followers on Twitter as her army. 

“The Queen of England won’t know what hit her” Gowon says airily. 

This conversation was the result of Haseul picking out a card from the ‘Conversation Starter for Youngsters!’ pack. Every table in the lunchroom had a small deck of cards with icebreaker questions that had been written by some counselors in the past. There had been quite the commotion when some prankster had switched them out with Cards Against Humanity in Haseul’s time as a baby camper. 

She still clearly remembered Clover reading out, “What would grandma find disturbing yet oddly charming?” and then muttering, “The hell is this.”

Some of the more innocent campers decided to give the strange question a go and answered, 

“Barney.” 

“My Chemical Romance fanfiction”

“My Barney fanfiction”

“OKAYYYY” Clover interrupted quickly. 

Today’s question was more tame, the classic “What is your dream?” Which is what Chaewon is currently discussing with fervor.

“So what do you do when the Queen’s guard finally move and descend upon you with the wrath of their patience being tested by dumb tourists for years upon years and their hats that suck the life out of them in the Britain heat because of global warming???”

Yeojin takes a deep breath. Choerry pats her on the back.

Before they can go more deeply into the political and social climate, a strange scene distracts all the campers from their delicious lunch and odd conversations.

Choerry looks to her left and notices Nagkyung and Chaeyoung had slipped away without them noticing. 

They were now up in the front of the room with the rest of the CITs seemingly doing some kind of… mime performance? 

All the campers are extremely confused until a CIT named Yeonhee picks up Clover’s megaphone.

“Pay attention to the story we’re about to show,” She says in a voice that must be too deep for her because she starts coughing, “HACK- it’s very COUGH important.”

As the CITs all get into formation (Yeonhee still hacking) Bambi whispers to the table. She explains that the CITs have to put on performances each lunch to describe some sort of rule of the camp, or some kind of moral.

“Like a mime version of the Aesop’s Fables?” Chaewon asks in confusion.

Haseul shushes them and the show begins to start.

A girl runs into the room in slow motion pretending to be carrying books like a schoolgirl who’s late to class.

Chaeyoung who is seemingly acting like a tree, shelters Nagkyung and Yeonhee who giggle silently like a group of stereotypical bullies. When the girl runs by Chaeyoung, the tree sticks out her foot (...root?) and the girl goes flying. But she’s caught by three girls in a surprisingly graceful movement.

Two other CITs then quickly run past the scene with a white sheet, fluttering it around all of the actors who are now huddled together in a circle. They do a kind of dance where they all do scary jazz hands. 

The situation is already very awkward, but because it is a mime performance and no one is talking, the only sounds are the CITs heavy breathing and tennis shoes squeaking on the polished wood floor.

The performance seems to come to a close as the girl who tripped is now being lifted up on the girls shoulders as if ascending to heaven. The other girls cry and wail like a dramatic biblical play. 

Then they all fall to the ground seemingly dead.

A girl with a high ponytail raises up her head and booms,

“WATCH WHERE YOU STEP.”

…  
…

“The hell was that?”

Yeojin interrupts the silence. Haseul grunts at her use of a swear word, but it’s a sentiment shared by most of the room.

Some of the more passionate actors look offended as they shoot dirty looks. But then they clasp their hands together like the children in the Sound of Music and bow deeply.

“Thank you.” A CIT whispers.

“I need an aspirin...” Haseul mutters.

After this show, the rest of the day passes before Choerry can even blink. 

The four rotations stuffed in before dinner included Nature, Water Activities, Crafts, and Dance. She can hardly remember what happened in the blur. It seemed the counselors were on super speed, trying to get everything done before dinner (because on the first day all of the activities started late).

After another delicious meal, where head cook Soojin somehow made meatloaf gourmet, the cabins disperse for the much anticipated evening activity.

Back in their lodging after a long trudge up the hill, the girls of Cabin 1 begin to discuss possible options for their cabin name. 

Haseul explains that past names have been locations, Disney movies, bands, and even some diseases (much to Clover’s chagrin. ‘Mad Cow Disease’ had won the obstacle course last year meaning the large trophy had their name emblazoned on it).

“Any suggestions?” Bambi asks the group of pre-teens. 

Choerry begins to think and the first thing that pops in her mind is Harry Potter… Azkaban? No no no… Hogwarts!

Right when she’s about to open her mouth-

“Monster Truck Rallyz”

“MONSTER HIGH MONSTER HIGH!!!”

All of the campers (and CITs) talk over each other with each name worse than the other. Bambi stops the madness at ‘Nicki Minaj’s toilet’

“Okaaaaaay” Haseul laughs nervously, “How about we put it to a vote? Everyone go around and say your idea for a name.”

The choices go like this:

Hyejoo suggests, “Mosh pit” while Chaewon again suggests, “Nicki minaj’s toilet” with increased fervor. Yeojin is adamant that “Devil’s butthole” is the way to go. 

Choerry finally gets to pipes in with, “Hogwarts!” And both of the CITs agree that Nicki is the way to go.

Bambi & Eeyore shake their heads at the madness, but rip up pieces of paper until there are eight ready to go. Pencils are distributed and Haseul tells the girls to try not to just choose their own ideas.

Choerry goes ahead and sticks with Hogwarts.

But somehow Nicki Minaj’s toilet wins…

Haseul asks for a recount.  
Bambi protests.

Chaewon cheers!

They are now Nicki Minaj’s Toilet - Cabin #1.  
Now Choerry really hoped they won the obstacle course this year.

Sticking with the theme was fun for all of them, as likenesses of Nicki Minaj popped up in every corner. Bambi was a very good artist and was drawing a life sized portrait of Nicki in the Super Bass video. Yeojin was rigging up a stereo and megaphone that would play all of her top hits from the top of the roof all day. (Haseul tried to stop her but Yeojin was very good at climbing). 

Choerry was cutting out paper hearts and taping them around the room while giggling at   
Chaeyoung and Nagkyung getting stuck in streamers and duck tape.

Hyejoo was also a surprisingly good artist - though her painting did look a little scary. It was Nicki Minaj but she was surrounded by wolves that snarled at her feet like ancient Grecian guard dogs. 

Chaewon was perhaps the most enlightened as she drew a full-out fresco of Nicki in the Anaconda video on the wall. How Haseul & Vivi were okay with that, Choerry had no clue.

Things took a more literal turn when Yeojin decided the cabin toilet needed an MTV makeover. First things first, the toilet had to be hot pink (Chawon insisted). The windows were all opened and the walls taped and papered so they could go to town spray-painting it the hottest pink they could find. 

Then Chaeyoung was sent down the hill to get a hot glue gun from the main cabin. When she returned the toilet was bright pink, Haseul and Vivi were sweating, and Choerry’s hearts had made it all the way into the bathroom.

Using sequins and beads the toilet cover was covered completely like a deluxe Bedazzled level. Chaewon put on the finishing touches with ‘diamond dust’ (which suspiciously looked like dried glitter glue) and the toilet could’ve been on the cover of Vogue magazine. 

They all took turns sitting on the toilet (much to Haseul’s dismay) and having a photoshoot with Hyejoo’s polaroid camera. Hyejoo was also a surprisingly passionate photographer despite her monotone voice. Her pictures were so good that they agreed they should be put on the wall, or as Chaewon suggested, in the Louvre.

All the while these cabin modifications had been happening, the sun was beginning to set. Nicki Minaj’s voice crooned those sweet words, ‘My anaconda don’t’, which was being projected to practically the entire campgrounds. 

The last step was to make a poster for the outside of the cabin to display its name.

Choerry peeked her head outside the window to spy on the other cabins. 

Cabin #2 was now officially Camp Half-Blood complete with cabin modifications rivaling that of the Percy Jackson novels. It seemed they went for a mix between Athena and Poseidon’s respective themes.

Coral and seashells probably cut out of construction paper dot the frame of the door. A beautiful drawing of an owl rests over the door. Somehow the campers have managed to make the cabin look like a Greek temple complete with columns.

Simply put, it looked good enough to house a divine being. 

Cabin 3 was Hyunjin’s cabin and Choerry could tell even from a distance what the theme was.

A talented camper had trimmed the hedges in front of the building into various wild and domestic cats. The most impressive one was the lion that bared its teeth aggressively.

She can’t make out the sign but she assumes it has something to do with cats or painters.

The other cabins are down the hill so she guesses she won’t know what they’ve done until tomorrow. 

She gets back to the very important task of decorating their poster with a copious amount of glitter. It’s surprisingly peaceful despite Yeojin’s speaker now blasting a lullaby version Super Bass.

By now the sun had fully set and the crickets were playing their legs like violins with gusto. The porch lights had turned on and bugs had begun to gather around them. They make small zapping sounds when they get too close by accident. 

A cool breeze cuts through the humid air causing Choerry to involuntarily shiver.

With the sudden chill comes an unconscious realization… 

Was she being watched?

She looks out to the dark of the woods. It seems to draw her in with its trees gently swaying, barely illuminated by a moon covered by clouds.  
Goosebumps rise on her shoulders and back of neck when the music above her begins to go off-key. She quickly looks up to the roof as static rises louder and louder, warping the words into a spell.  
She begins to feel panic, and clasps her hands to her ears to block out the sound.

Then all the lights on the campgrounds flicker once,

then off,

leaving Choerry completely in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! This was a chapter aimed mostly at introductions, so there will be more character development soon (no more just caveman hyejoo, sorry hyejoo). There will definitely be more shenanigans but things will be a bit more in-depth from here on out (As the CITs said....'watch your step'.) 
> 
> Here's Haseul's Playlist for the upcoming dance:  
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUB0FWy93nhgDOHjX3YIHU199jRa-wqew


	3. Day Two (Part 1)

Yeojin mumbles a handful of expletives as she trips through the now completely dark cabin.   
It was like the world had just been reverted back to the Dark Ages in a matter of seconds. 

When the lights had turned off suddenly, shrieks and yells had filled the night air. Her music was turned off too, and Yeojin wondered if this was some big prank. 

If it was, she wished she’d thought of it.

Maybe some squirrels chewed through the electric grid? Wouldn’t be the first time. The squirrels at Camp Loona were famed (and feared) for their odd behavior. She would never forget the day she had visited Haseul at camp on her last day. While sitting in the audience watching the camper’s lame dance the squirrels from a tree hanging over them threw nuts straight at her head. And only her head. There were large knots on her head for weeks. 

So Camp Loona felt cursed from the start when it came to be her turn to come here. 

It was odd having Haseul as one of the counselors in her cabin. Usually they tried to avoid having family members staying together, but this year it just happened to be that way. (What Yeojin didn’t know is that Haseul had pulled strings specifically so she’d be able to be with Vivi.)

So far though, things hadn’t been too bad. The squirrels had kept their distance, her fellow campers of Nicki Minaj’s Toilet Cabin were dorks (if a bit quiet), and having Bambi as their counselor meant that everyone was jealous of them. It was better than being at home alone at least. 

But now she’s face-planted on their cabin floor because some wily squirrels or and/or pranksters had decided to cut the electricity to a 50 acre campsite. 

“Ow…” She moans. When she raises her head she can barely see the outline of someone sitting on the porch. They look a little spooky in the dark, all hunched over and hands over their ears. 

Yeojin crawls forward and taps the girl on shoulder.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

Yeojin is more startled as she bowls backward at the girl’s reaction. The girl turns around in alarm with her tiny fists up in defense.   
“….oh.” She says. 

“Please do not do that again my heart can’t take it.” 

“I should be saying the same thing to you!”

A moment of silence.

Yeojin decides to extend an olive branch and gets up to sit next to girl who she is 99% sure is Choerry.

The girl is shivering in the chilly night air. She’s only wearing a short-sleeve and shorts so it makes sense she’s cold.

“You okay?” Yeojin whispers, with an uncharacteristic softness. She doesn’t know why, but she doesn’t want to make the girl any more uncomfortable than she already is.

Choerry nods.

“Y-yeah…”

Yeojin fumbles in her pocket and after a few seconds finds what she was searching for.

It’s a Harry Potter wand that is illuminated at the end to become a fairly effective flashlight.  
Wait…

‘Hey! That’s my wand!” 

Yeojin cackles at her revelation. She wasn’t really a kleptomaniac, she was just making sure her fellow campers were prepared for Auction Day. They had a fairly good haul so far.

“Yeah, yeah Hermione.” Yeojin smiles. She hands over the wand to Choerry who immediately gives it a hug.

Of course she was a nerd, Yeojin thinks. She had noticed how shy Choerry was from the moment the purple-haired girl had sat down at their table. It was cute, honestly. But she really hoped that all her fellow cabin mates would become more talkative soon. She could only carry conversations so much. 

It’s not that she wasn’t shy herself. It was more of a coping mechanism than anything else – act goofy and be loud then things weren’t as quiet and awkward. But she was only 11…coincidentally the age Harry was in the first book.

….yes, she read the books. She doesn’t admit that to anybody though. 

By this point, the panicked yells of the camp had died down somewhat. Campers and counselors were pulling out flashlights or cellphones to provide some much-needed illumination. 

“Guys come to our room!” Haseul yells. Ah yes, time to round up the youngsters for the customary wind-down activities. 

Since her sister was a fourth-year counselor, Yeojin knew absolutely everything there was to know about Camp Loona.

From knowing all the counselor’s names, average shower temperatures, and all the evening activities inside and out, Yeojin was an invaluable fountain of knowledge. But Choerry’s sister was a counselor too, so maybe she knew more than she let on? 

As the official ‘little sisters’ of camp (no one else had younger siblings to Yeojin’s knowledge), they were in the same boat. Lil Aeong, and little Eeyore. No escaping their legacy, Yeojin thought with mild distaste.

She stood up and held out a hand to help Choerry up. The girl looks at her hand but eventually takes it with considerable strength almost making Yeojin fall over again. Ouch. Stronger than she looks too.

“Let’s go Hermione” 

When they walk into the back door of the cabin where Haseul & Vivi’s room is, they see none other than Vivi with poor Haseul in a headlock. 

Apparently it wasn’t a sudden show of violence from the normally peaceful counselor, but rather a quick demonstration of self-defense for the tiny campers. 

“Of course the best option is always to run.” Vivi amends, “But sometimes you have to turn WWE to protect yourself.”

Choerry looks to Yeojin only to find she’s already on the floor putting Chaewon into a headlock. Hyejoo is now wacking Yeojin to let go of her fragile friend.

Haseul, who looks surprisingly okay still being in a headlock, looks up to Choerry.

“You know any self-defense moves?”

She thinks back to all the times Hyunjin had practiced her Taekwondo moves on her. Probably any situation she would ever get in would be better than that.

“Why are we learning self-defense?” She decides to ask quietly, “Aren’t we in the middle of nowhere?”

Yeojin pipes up first cutting off Bambi and Eeyore.  
“Because of the…” she pauses for dramatic emphasis

“Racabifrosikabetowlbatpengswabutwolf”

“Butt wolf?” Hyejoo asks in confusion.

“No, the-” Yeojin is about to launch into another explanation of the name but is cut off by Haseul.

“It’s the official camp mascot.” She explains, “It’s a kind of like a folktale. At the counselor play we tell it as one of the stories.”

Choerry doesn’t remember Hyunjin mentioning it to her surprisingly. But maybe it’s because the name was so long and she forgot it. 

“Yeah and it’s lurking in the woods waiting for an unsuspecting camper to gobble up” Yeojin says solemnly, now in the air.

“That’s not…what… you know what nevermind.” Bambi sighs, releasing Haseul from the chokehold, “I think you guys are pretty resourceful as it is.”

Haseul nods, “Almost scarily so.” She eyes Hyejoo who now has Yeojin held above her head, and is squirming to get loose. 

“Let’s just take showers and head to bed guys.” 

The two counselors are too tired to finish up all the other things that they’re meant to talk about tonight. It can wait until tomorrow.

Choerry is still a little unnerved at the feeling of being watched. Is it the racatbi…….what was it again? Or is she just paranoid? She’s used to feeling like people are watching her, but it’s usually when there are actually people around. That nervous feeling that never goes away.

She knows she’s just shy, that she’ll get better when she finally gets out of her shell. But when is that going to happen? It sounds like a fantasy – a feeling she can’t even find in her dreams. 

She remembers when she read about Dementors and trying to find your happiest memory. It took her the longest time to think of something, anything that would work. Maybe this week she’d finally get that memory. 

She showers and changes into her pajamas.

Her dreams are filled with monsters and her legs not letting her run away.

Yeojin tosses and turns. Usually when her head hits the pillow she is out like a light… but tonight something is holding her back. 

She gives up and opens her eyes, letting them adjust to the darkness. The lights had come back right before they took their showers. But they had been dimmed again as everyone slipped away into dream land. Yeojin could still hear Chaewon and Hyejoo murmuring and Chaeyoung snoring, but other than that the night was quiet.

Yeojin wonders why she can’t fall asleep. It wasn’t like her to have insomnia. She was the epitome of health! A world-renowed athlete! An underground Soundcloud rapper!

… A little kid. 

Rubbing her eyes, she tries to let sleep overcome her. Let herself drift away without any worries weighing down her mind. 

She was fine. 

Not homesick.

… It was just the first day! She thinks incredulously. Get yourself together, Yeojin! What would Haseul say?

So, she pretends that her room at home is unnaturally dark, her night light had just burned out, that was all. Her clothes on her desk chair didn’t look like a monster in the shadows. Her frog was swimming in circles lazily.

Yeah. She was fine.

The next morning comes too soon for almost everyone. 

Because of the lights out fiasco, the counselors could feel their Camp Loona grey-hairs coming in more quickly than usual. When they all arrived at another gourmet breakfast, Clover came to the front of the room to explain.

“I know it was a shock last night, but the grid has been fixed! There’s nothing to worried about.”

“Was it the squirrels?” A counselor asks.

“The Racabifrosikabetowlbatpengswabutwolf!” Yeojin supplies helpfully.

Clover shakes her head.

“No…” She whispers with the tone of a conspiracy theorist. 

“A rogue camper.”

According to Clover, a young camper had gotten lost on the way to her cabin and had accidentally spilled her drink into the electrical grid. How that had happened, Choerry had no clue. Was this why she had to sign that absurdly long waiver before coming to camp? 

Clover moved on to explain today’s activities. 

“Today is our camp dance. The theme for this year is…” She shuffles her cue cards, “the 80s! Whoever has the best costume will get to choose the playlist and win a desert cooked by Chef Soojin.”

She glances back at Soojin who waves shyly to an adoring crowd.

The campers begin to vibrate in anticipation of what the desert could possibly be. Counselors are included in the contest too, so obviously Haseul had already formulated the best costume possible. She was intent on winning, mostly so she could share the desert with Vivi (and she had a pretty sick playlist all ready to go)

While chewing on her seafood pancake and gobbling down rice, Choerry wonders what she’ll get to look forward too today. Her eyebags weigh down heavier than an 11-year old should have to carry and she feels tired. She glances over to check on her fellow cabinmate’s condition.

Yeojin is peppy as usual. Chaewon and Hyejoo are taking a nice snooze, leaning against each other.

Per camp tradition, the second morning is when worried parent’s letters flood into the breakfast room. 

The CITs relieve the poor mailman of his sack of letters and pour them out on Seulgi’s table. Sifting through the pile, the camper’s letters are distributed to each child. 

When Choerry’s letter arrives it’s in a gorgeous royal purple envelope. A wax seal with her mom’s initials sits stately on the back. When she opens it some confetti pops out. Somehow how her mom has installed a small motor and fan inside the letter. 

The cursive handwriting loops comfortingly and Choerry can feel tears prick her eyes at the sweet message.

Dear Choerry,  
How is camp so far? Is Hyunjin taking care of you? …Maybe I should ask if you’re taking care of Hyunjin? I know it’s probably too early to get a letter but I hope you’ll enjoy it. I thought I should practice my poetry, so here you go darling:

My little fruit bat  
You are all ‘dat  
In fact, with my mom friends I chitchat  
About my beautiful daughter  
What rhymes with daughter?  
Had to look at rhymezone for that.  
It’s Harry Potter, my wonderful child  
My egg, my Mcdonalds McMuffin  
What rhymes with muffin?  
…  
‘nothin.

Hope you liked it sweetie! I’ll send you another letter tomorrow. I’m working on limericks! 

Love,  
Mom

Choerry is full on bawling. Sniffling through the tears, she looks up to find Hyunjin also bawling at their mother’s genius rhymes. 

Once she recovers she notices Yeojin is looking at her letter with an oddly serious face. 

When she peeks over she sees its sparse contents

Yeojin, stop putting your socks in the freezer. Your socks smell like freezerburn and the bagel bites smell like feet.  
Bye,  
Mom

Yeojin can feel Choerry look at her so she puts on her signature goofy grin.

“Ha!” She says, “What a jokester!”

Admittedly, Yeojin is oddly disappointed. The room is filled with sniffling campers who are basking in the love-filled letters of their parents. Haseul comes over and shows off her letter that is covered in glitter. It waxes poetic on what a lovely daughter she is and how proud they are of her. 

Yeojin’s smile threatens to fall but is saved by Clover’s second announcement. 

“Let’s get started with the day’s activities, everybody!” 

For Cabin 1 their day is starting out with… Vivi on her nature adventure!

Vivi beams at the thought of bringing out her ragtag bunch of kiddos out on a nice hike. With plenty of deet bugspray of course. Don’t want miserable campers with tick bites that she has to take care of.

“Follow me campers!” She gracefully gets up from the table and heads towards the door. The campers carefully put their letters (and Yeojin illegally packs some muffins from breakfast) into their Camp Loona rucksacks. 

All the campers and counselors file out of breakfast room excited for the day ahead. Choerry feels an extra boost of energy from her mom’s sweet letter. 

Yeojin feels an extra weight on her small shoulders but bounces out the door nonetheless. 

Vivi leads her cabin to the edge of the woods where she makes sure to douse each camper (and CIT) in a bountiful amount of deet spray. Once they’re sufficiently drenched she explains what the day’s activities will entail. 

First they’ll break off into two groups. Nagkyung will take out Chaewon and Hyejoo as Team 1. Chaeyoung is going to head Team 2 with Choerry and Yeojin. 

The idea, Vivi says, is that there are scavenger hunts that diverge into two paths with different clues. Whoever reaches the ‘finish line’ first (aka Vivi relaxing in a sunbathing chair) will get some snacks. It will be full of nature facts, animal puns, and strenuous physical challenges to tire out energetic campers!

Haseul and Vivi had a field day coming up with the scavenger hunt prior to camp.

She hands the laminated first clue to Nagkyung and Chaeyoung. 

It reads:  
A rock that sparkles stands at the entrance of the woods. Shine like stars in Hollywood! Unscramble [edoge]

“Doge?” Hyejoo mutters.   
“Much confusion. Very rhyme.” Yeojin adds.

Vivi hands the two teams some compasses. 

“You guys know how to read these, right?” 

Nagkyung and Chaeyoung nod while the campers shake their heads.  
“…That’s fine. CITs can you explain to the campers?” Bambi asks.

So after the campers receive a crash course in the importance of knowing the cardinal directions and head off into the woods. The sparkling rock (a geode!) soon appears in their sight. It sits on top of a large rock in all its sparkly glory, as an elegant sunbeam filters through the tree tops. 

Underneath the rock is two sets of clues. 

Chaeyoung reads the clue out loud to her two campers.  
“Follow the animal tracks until you see a poison tree.”

She groans at the thought of sifting for a clue through poison ivy. Last year on Auction Day a camper had managed to stuff poison ivy leaves into their sweatshirt because they thought it might be on the official list. Apparently, they had touched it so much in their life they had built up a tolerance to it. Chaeyoung had not been so lucky. 

“Oh dude!” Yeojin exclaims, “The butt wolf’s tracks!”

Chaeyoung and Choerry look at the ground and admit, they indeed do look like the tracks of multiple animals. Nagkyung’s team is already going in the opposite direction following some red ribbons tied to tree branches. 

“That looks like a deer’s tracks… rabbit… wolf?!” Choerry squints closer at one of the sets of tracks. One of them does look suspiciously like a wolf track, and she gulps. She didn’t know there were wolves in these woods.

“Choerry you know how to read animal tracks?” Chaeyoung asks in confusion.

Choerry nods her head. When Hyunjin was in Scouts she had taken her out on an expedition to practice her newfound skills. They had gotten lost but followed some deer tracks that led back to trailhead.

“The Kratts Bros are shaking right now.” Yeojin says with respect.

After traveling deeper into the woods they come to a small stream. They’ve seen some leaves of three along the way but Choerry tells them they aren’t the right ones. Drawing closer to the stream there is a sign in front of some shrubs that says

“HI, MY NAME IS POISON IVY”

“Well that was easy.” 

They search through the brush, trying to avoid the evil leaves, and soon find another laminated clue. 

‘Follow the streams and follow your dreams. Once you find a pot of gold, go west young lass, go west!”

The nonsensical clue is rather inspirational but not particularly helpful. Once they find a smooth wooden bowl full of pinecones and acorns painted with gold it begins to make more sense. But once they look to the right all they see is a thick undergrowth. 

“Wait… is that a machete?”

They all look to where Yeojin is pointing, and there is a shiny machete.

…

“Aren’t we supposed to like, respect nature?” Choerry asks, “Not… destroy it?”   
Yeojin is already walking over to machete, and Chaeyoung quickly overtakes her in panic.

“Oh no no no, look at the sign.” 

The little card attached to the handle of the machete says,   
‘CITs only. Yeojin don’t you dare touch this.’

Yeojin groans. Her dreams of being an explorer in the deep jungle had just been dashed.

Chaeyoung picks up the machete carefully and tells the tiny campers to back up. She steps towards the tightly wound together tree branches and vines and gives a little  
THWACK!  
SMACK!  
DING!

Except it’s only Yeojin making sound effects because as soon as Chaeyoung strikes the first branch the machete gets stuck. After a few failed attempts at pulling the machete out of the branch she sighs.

“Um… guys this might take a while.” She scratches her head, “Maybe just go play in the stream while I figure this out?”

Yeojin and Choerry look at the measly stream that gets a little bigger farther down. Then look at each other. 

“But don’t go too far!” She amends, still struggling with the machete.   
With their CITs focus intently on her task, Yeojin’s eyes begin to sparkle. She whispers to Choerry conspiratorially.

“Let’s go far.” 

Choerry is about to protest when she is dragged to the stream by Yeojin’s little hands on her rucksuck strap. Her tennis shoes make little rut marks in the dirt as she tries to get away.

“She…said…not…to go…too far!” Choerry whispers through tightened teeth as she struggles more. 

Yeojin shrugs and lets go of her rucksack only to have the sudden lack of tension make Choerry tumble backwards.

Choerry unluckily lands in a small pile of rocks. But her fall is somewhat broken by her bag. Still she gets up rubbing her backside in embarrassment.

Ow.

“Oh shoot, sorry.” Yeojin immediately feels bad. She dusts off Choerry’s back and her legs where some rocks have gotten partially embedded.

She holds out her hand with a rueful smile.

“Let’s just go a little farther?”

Choerry’s rebellious devil and angel pop up on her shoulders with a poof.

“Yerim…” The angel warns from her right side.  
“It’s just a little farther…” The little bat whispers on her left, “Plus Yeojin seems like she knows what she’s doing, right? And it seems like it might take a long time for that CIT to get through that brush…”

Yeojin waits awkwardly with her hand still outstretched as Choerry mumbles something to her right shoulder then shushes her left shoulder.

“Uhh…Choerry?”

Choerry’s little friends vanish.

“Ha! Just… some bugs got on me!” She pretends she was just blowing off some bugs instead of creepily talking to herself. 

She takes Yeojin’s hand and they set off down the stream.  
Chaeyoung doesn’t notice them when they quickly slip out of sight. 

The thwacking sounds (apparently Chaeyoung had finally gotten the machete unstuck) fade away as the campers walk farther. 

“Where too?” Yeojin asks. 

The stream is steadily growing bigger and the faint bubbling sounds turn into a more steady babble. Choerry looks around at the scenery. In the distance a rock is illuminated by soft sun rays. The woods grow lighter in color, the pine green turning to a brilliant emerald. She can feel the warmth on her face.

“Rock?” She says.

“Rock.” Yeojin agrees. 

They make their way over to the large rock that is at a slight incline. Skipping over some slightly slippery rocks (that seem to have been placed there on purpose?) they manage to make it without falling into the water. The rock is cool and smooth to the touch. 

Choerry takes a seat carefully but the rock is so smooth that she begins to slide towards the water. 

“AH!” She shrieks.

Yeojin does her best to grab her, but Choerry’s socks still get a bit damp. The smaller girl cackles but after her fit of laughter she helps her take off her shoes and lay her socks onto a sunny patch of the rock.

“Man… those are my favorite socks.” Choerry whines. Her lucky socks!

“It’s okay, they’ll dry soon.” Yeojin chuckles, “Here let’s eat some lunch!”

Choerry gives her a look.

“…We just had breakfast though?”

Yeojin scoffs, “Don’t tell me you’re not hungry yet? Chef Soojin’s cooking is the bomb but something about being at camp makes me starving at all hours of the day.” 

She shows her the chocolate muffins she swiped from the breakfast buffet. 

Choerry agrees.  
Something Hyunjin had mentioned was how awful the food was when she was a camper. So Choerry hadn’t been looking forward to mealtimes. But this year the famous Chef Soojin had somehow been coerced to coming to the tiny girl’s camp. Blackmail? Choerry wonders.

As if reading her mind Yeojin says,  
“Haseul called in a favor this year. The parents were starting to complain because of the food, so Clover asked if anyone knew a chef that could actually cook.”

“Who was the cook before?” Choerry had never asked Hyunjin that before.

Yeojin thinks, “Hmm…Gowon? Some kind of weird name.  
But apparently Soojin is a third cousin twice removed.”

Choerry’s mouth opens in shock. 

Chef Soojin wasn’t just well-known, she was like, Beyonce famous. All of her restaurants were 5 star grade, critically acclaimed and made a ton of money.

It was like being related to Elvis! (Which Hyunjin had convinced her that they were for the first 10 years of her life. And that she was actually from Mars.)

“Here.” Yeojin hands Choerry a muffin who accepts it gratefully.

Her favorite!

They had all disappeared before she’d made it through the breakfast line so she hadn’t gotten to eat one. Turns out Yeojin was the one made them run out, Choerry thought with a giggle.

As they both munch on their delicious breakfast baked goods, Choerry realizes that they haven’t said anything for the past five minutes. Her brain begins to churn.

Should she say something?

Did Yeojin feel uncomfortable?

What did kids talk about these days?

Why was this muffin so delicious!?

Before she can think of anything to say, Yeojin breaks the serenity.   
“Say, I wonder if the butt wolf is really out here.” She speaks with the lilt of a seasoned campfire story-teller, “The story goes that it lives in a den in the middle of the forest.”

Yeojin stands up to emphasize the size of the den with her little arms. Crumbs tumble down to the rock with each of her exaggerated movements.

“It’s den is THIS big!” She says, her voice getting quieter, “They say it’s ten feet tall. Fifteen feet if you count the antlers.”

Choerry is getting drawn into the story and leans forward when Yeojin crouches down and gestures for her to come closer with her finger. 

“But it’s never been seen by human eyes…” She whispers, “It’s only the cry that’s heard when campers are about to fall asleep.”

She pauses for emphasis.

“It always stalks the quietest camper, trying to find a friend…

Or a meal.”

Then Yeojin proceeds to give a startling inhuman screech.

“Yeojin!” Choerry squeals in fear. She tries to shush her fellow cabinmate but she’s apparently really getting into the act and only changes her sound into various different animal cries. 

“RUN!” Yeojin stops to grab Choerry’s hand again and drag her off the rock and further down the river.

“W-wait!” Choerry tries to turn them around but Yeojin keeps running. 

They make a sharp turn further into the woods and they come towards a clearing with a large pile of leaves underneath a tree.

Yeojin goes straight for the leaves and is about to make a leap when Choerry manages to get her hand free. 

“Hey!” Yeojin cries as she lands by herself in the leave

But with a sudden crack the leaves sink beneath Choerry’s sight as the foliage, and Yeojin, fall straight into the earth.

Birds in the tree go flying in all directions at the loud sound of Yeojin’s terrified yell. 

Choerry has fallen backwards in surprise. 

All is quiet for a heart-sinking moment.

Then Yeojin swears a dictionary-worth’s of words and Choerry breathes a sigh of relief. She crawls over to the newly revealed hole. 

It’s dark as Choerry peers over the side. 

“CHOERRY!” Yeojin shrieks. 

“Are you okay?” Choerry, still scared, whispers the words quietly.

“WHAT?” 

“ARE YOU OKAY!?” She yells louder than she ever has in her life (which isn’t very loud)

“IT SMELLS DOWN HERE.”

Choerry can’t help but giggle, but berates herself when she realizes a tiny human has just fallen into a suspicious hole in the ground.

“Don’t worry!” Choerry cries, “I’ll go get Chaeyoung!!”

Yeojin pipes up with a hasty yell.  
“NO! HASEUL WILL FIND OUT!”

Choerry stops and ponders. Maybe there was a way to get her out? She ignores Yeojin’s swears and looks around the clearing. 

Rocks…  
Throw some rocks down for Yeojin to build a tower?  
No, no that won’t work.  
More leaves?  
Then she notices a rope dangling from a tree, tied up like some kind of animal trap. Careful not to step on the looped part of the rope on the ground, she tries to untie it. 

“HEY CHOERRY THERE’S A KNIFE IN MY SACK!”

Choerry runs back over to the hole. Wait… Yeojin’s sack is down in the hole, too…

“LOOK OUT I’M GONNA CHUCK IT!”

With alarm, Choerry quickly scrambles backwards as a knife shoots out of the hole…  
…and right back down.

“SDFLKJS:DLFKJA:LKJSD:LFKJ:LSKDJF” Choerry says.

…  
…  
…

“THAT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.”

Despite the immense danger, Yeojin throws the knife one more time and this time it lands outside the hole. Gingerly, Choerry picks it up with a scared ‘thanks!’ and makes her way to over to the tree.

As she hacks away at the rope, the birds that had been scared away before come back to the tree and give her angry bird glares. She ignores them and after a few minutes has cut through the bottom of the rope.

But how was she going to cut it at the top? 

The birds seem to give her a mocking glance, and Choerry notices that there were a few low branches that she might be able to climb.

Only she’d never climbed a tree in her life. 

Whenever she’d tried to copy Hyunjin in the past, she’d always get on the first branch and get scared. 

But her friend…

Friend?

Grimacing with determination she decides to give it a go.

She again yells to Yeojin to wait patiently, because she’s going to get her out of this!

With a little jump, somehow Choerry manages to reach the first branch. Clinging onto it like a scared koala, she rights herself and tries to reach for the next limb. It’s just slightly out of her reach and she can feel her muscles straining. 

Hyunjin would kill her if she hurt herself.

With a hefty swing she gets to the second branch. She tells herself not to look down. 

Yeojin is giving her some encouraging shouts, and soon enough she is up to where the rope is tied. She is probably around 20 feet off the ground by this point. 

She uncases the knife that had been in her overall pocket and starts to saw away at the rope.   
It takes longer than she thought it would. She can feel the vertigo set in, but Yeojin’s cheerleading routine helps her stay focused. 

Finally the last frayed edges slip off and the rope goes hurtling towards the ground with a loud  
THUMP.

Only, Choerry isn’t quite sure how to get down now.

She looks back to the branches she’s climbed and wonders how to go about this. It was like when she went rock-climbing and getting down was the scariest part. Choerry gulps and reaches her toes down to the lower limb. 

With determined movements she is slowly making her way down.  
But then her left hand slips on the second to last branch and she also hurtles down towards the ground.

With another  
THUMP.

“Choerry?” Yeojin shouts with worry, slightly quieter than before.

Luckily she’d only been about five feet above the ground, so Choerry was only a little battered. Everything was going to hurt tomorrow though.

“I’m fine!” She yells, dusting herself off. Quietly she mutters but makes her way over to hole with the rope in tow. 

It’s a struggle but she throws half of the rope down and holds the other half. Really, she’s barely holding on but she plants her feet in the ground. She feels Yeojin grab the rope in haste, and she almost tumbles into the hole, too.  
“Careful!!” She shouts in panic. 

Yeojin stops and grabs the rope more gently now. She scrambles up the rope with the grace of a gymnast and soon her face comes into Choerry’s view.   
Her face is covered with dirt, but she gives a wide grateful smile. 

Choerry gives one last tug and they fall together, safely to the side of the hole.

In a painful heap of tired limbs and twigs, it takes them a moment to untangle themselves.

The birds are chirping again now, seemingly in begrudging admiration.

Choerry and Yeojin lie side by side for a few minutes, chests heaving. 

“Thanks, Hermione…” Yeojin breathes out.  
“Don’t call me that.” Choerry mumbles.

Then they both fall into a mountain of unstoppable laughter at the absurdity of it all.

“WE SURVIVED!” Yeojin yells to the sky in triumph, again scaring away the birds. 

Their celebration is cut short when they hear footsteps crunching in the leaves, and someone muttering curses.

The small campers lift their heads to see the terrifying figure of Chaeyoung who is covered in sweat and leaves. 

Her machete is resting on her shoulder and she glares at them. 

“We are in so much trouble,” Choerry moans quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing is scarier than a stressed counselor-in-training holding a machete. 😶


	4. Day Two (Part 2)

Choerry feels like bursting into tears.

After an intense talking to, Chaeyoung drags the two exhausted campers back to the entrance of the forest where Vivi is relaxing in her beach chair. When she sees her CIT and tiniest campers covered in layers of dirt and leaves she jumps to her feet in alarm.

Vivi tells Chaeyoung to go wash off in the hose and takes Yeojin and Choerry by their grubby hands and leads them to Seulgi, the camp’s nurse. 

The nurse’s station is situated in the corner of the main cabin, aka the lunch room. Seulgi is actually ‘Winnie the Pooh’, which is written in small font on a placard on the round table. She has to be shaken awake from her nap, which she had been taking on an uncomfortable bench and sits up with bleary eyes. 

“Oh!” She says in surprise with a sleepy voice, “You guys look terrible.” 

Yeojin and Choerry give displeased grunts and Seulgi motions for them to sit on the opposite bench. Vivi ruffles their hair fondly and leaves them in their camp nurse’s capable hands. 

“Let me guess…” She puts on round glasses and rubs her chin, “Tiger trap?” 

“How did you know that?!” Yeojin exclaims.

“Somebody’s been digging holes in the forest for years. Still don’t know who.” Seulgi explains with a shrug, “Here let’s fix you up.”

After helping them wash off, Seulgi applies an excess of antibiotic ointment and bandaids. Yeojin is slightly worse off with multiple abrasions, but they both have pretty severe rope burn. So the nurse gently swabs hydrogen peroxide on the burns which results in Yeojin howling and Choerry grimacing quietly. 

Then she points to two cots behind her and insists they take a quick lie-down. 

“Cures all ills!” She says.

Choerry is particularly exhausted from their unintended adventure. Mostly because she’s not the most athletic kid. Her aching arm muscles now feel like noodles. Every slight movement was torture, but the icy-hot Seulgi had applied was slowly taking effect. (Even though it was clouding all of her senses with its overwhelming minty smell). 

With the adrenaline wearing off, she sits on the cot with her too big clothes that Seulgi had supplied to both off them. Yeojin is practically swimming in her shirt that exclaims ‘Don’t do drugs! Give hugs!’ with a Carebear beaming on it. 

She feels tears again prickle her eyes as she lays on the slightly scratchy sheets and turns away from Yeojin.

“Choerry…” Yeojin tries to say.

She only responds with a grunt.

“I’m sorry.” 

She says this in the most sincere voice Choerry has heard from her the past two days. After a few beats she turns around and flashes a tired but bright smile, trying to make her tears reverse their flow.

“It’s okay…”

Seulgi is now filling out some paperwork, which is quickly piling up as campers have filed into her medical corner with increasingly worrying injuries. 

She had already had to send one camper back to their cabin to rest after they swallowed almost an entire lake-worth’s water. Clover was on the other side of the lunchroom with an even higher pile with her characteristic pout and is sighing every now and again.  
Seulgi decides it’s time to take care of another patient.

She walks over to the obviously stressed head staff member and places a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

Clover turns around with a start, ready to snap at whoever dared interrupt her work. 

She stops when she sees her favorite person.

“Irene,” Seulgi whispers her real name with a hushed whisper, “Everything okay?”

When Irene doesn’t respond, Seulgi gives her a big ol’ bear hug.

“괜찮아 언니.”

“아… 고마워 슬기야.” Irene responds with a visible relief washing over her. She is incredibly stressed in general, but whenever Camp Loona comes around it only increases. 

“You need any help with anything?” Seulgi asks, sitting down beside her, “Have you taken your nap yet?” 

Irene shakes her head. 

Seulgi tuts disapprovingly. 

“Here let me do some of the busy work. I’ve seen you do it enough.” She takes the pen out of Irene’s hands and shoos her away.

Irene tries to protest but eventually after trying to chase Seulgi out of her workspace for a few minutes she gives up. She makes her way back to her cabin that she shares with Seulgi and a few other staff members. 

She’ll definitely need to rest up for the activity tonight.

“We made it!” Nagkyung shouts with a triumphant smile. 

The other nature team of Nicki Minaj’s Toilet Cabin had made their way out of the forest not too long after Chaeyoung’s team. Hyejoo and Chaewon, not particularly fond of the outdoors, were dragging their feet despite their successful scavenger hunt. 

Nagkyung sees Vivi sunbathing and walks over with her tired campers. 

“Hey Bambi! I think we finished the scavenger hunt.”

They had slightly less eventful walk in the forest (or at least they hadn’t fallen in any holes), and had managed to solve the ever-increasing difficult clues. Haseul and Vivi had run out of ideas towards the end, and the clues reflected it. 

Eventually Nagkyung had led her unmotivated campers to the final destination, which was an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods. 

Honestly it probably should’ve been torn down a long time ago, but she guesses that it is easily forgotten. It is well camouflaged with ivy scaling the wooden logs and thick trees surrounding it. 

Inside, much to the camper’s dismay, was an unfriendly family of raccoons.

“WWE SKILLS!!” Nagkyung had shouted in excitement, and proceeded to wrestle the raccoons while Hyejoo managed to pull out the prize hidden in the raccoon nest for the campers who completed the scavenger hunt.

It was none other than $20 gift card… to Gamestop???

Hyejoo and Chaewon were super excited and had chatted about what they were going to buy when they got home. But as they traversed the rest of the woods their energy quickly plummeted and Nagkyung ended up piggy-backing poor Chaewon for part of the way.

“Good job guys!” Bambi smiles. She gets up and pours some lemonade for the exhausted campers, “Your next rotation started 10 minutes ago, but you can make your way there slowly.”

Hyejoo and Chaewon groan. They had just done more physical activity in one hour than they’d done all summer. 

“Don’t worry,” Nagkyung says, “It’s arts and crafts next. You can relax and weave some baskets or whatever Picasso and Aeong have cooked up this year.”

Little does Nagkyung know, but since Hyunjin is much more of an outdoors person, her and Heejin had combined their interests and Arts & Crafts was much more intense than it should be this year. 

For example, campers having to hunt for materials to make their crafts, which are hidden throughout the art cabin. Or running away from Hyunjin in a game of tag while also making friendship bracelets taped to the back of a fellow camper. Even painting was made an athletic event by putting tarps on the ground and placing the canvases across the room. Campers would take slingshots and try to aim for their own canvases with paintballs. 

Camp Loona trusted its counselors. Perhaps a bit too much.

The dance.

In years past, Tuesday’s evening activity had been the day used for experimenting with different ideas. Since it was the second night, the head staff and counselors wondered what would be the best thing to keep camper’s attention but also not tire them out too much so early in the week. One idea included a twister game that covered the entire floor of the lunchroom. This had resulted in multiple camper injuries, so they decided that a camp dance would be much safer. 

And this year, there was a theme! 

After dinner is over all the campers head back towards their cabins to prepare for the dance. Haseul leaves Cabin 1 in Vivi’s hands while she goes to a secret location to prepare her ultimate 80s theme costume. 

Nicki Minaj’s Toilets inhabitants are throwing together a pile of all clothing neon, with legwarmers galore. Choerry has brought bright pink scrunchies which she is helping Hyejoo put up her hair (and slightly wrestling her to do so in the process). Yeojin is strapping on some quad skates despite their cabin being at the top of a huge hill. She is also going as the Karate Kid since she says the final scene would’ve been cooler if roller skates were involved. Meanwhile Vivi is fitting Chaewon with a dainty pink tutu.

The oldest counselor’s costume is equally as adorable as her campers. Her pink hair is teased and curled into a somehow fashionable pseudo-mullet. A power suit with extra poofy shoulder pads are complemented by baby blue pumps.

Yeojin had somehow managed to skate down the entirety of the hill, screaming Africa’s Toto all the way. The only problem was she wasn’t able to stop until she went all the way down the driveway that the parents had driven up on the first day. Choerry, rather worried, chased all the way after her. Her 80s inspired jelly shoes slapped against the blacktop with each stride.

Meanwhile, Jinsoul welcomes campers at the door to the main cabin with a bright smile and dad jeans with a matching denim jacket. Neon balloons and streamers line the walls where a disco ball flashes different colors on the incoming campers. Hyunjin has already started up a conga line to the sweet tune of Boom Boom Pow.

When Choerry has finally rolled Yeojin back to the cabin they step inside to see the lunchroom tables have all been pushed back to the walls, the lights darken so that disco ball is even more shiny. The music pounds loudly making the cabin shake with each reverberation. Yeojin is ecstatic and immediately runs to the dancefloor and starts krumping. (Or at least the best she can on roller skates). 

But Choerry stands in the doorway and just watches the other campers. 

Then the music awkwardly cuts off and the campers and counselor on the dancefloor groan in protest. Smoke rolls out of a backroom and fills the dancefloor ominously. Right when people are about to shout, “FIRE!” the door flies open to reveal…

“ATTENTION K-MART SHOPPERS!” 

It’s Haseul, in her full glory in an impressively accurate Beetlejuice costume. She presses a button and her suit lights up to a ghostly green. Eerie music filters out of the speakers as she begins to do the Pennywise dance. The shocked crowd steps back in confusion. 

“IT’S SHOWTIME!” Haseul yells again, pumping up her fists all the while kicking out her legs in time to the now pounding dubstep Halloween music. 

“Dear lord…” Irene has finally awoken from her nap, which had apparently been extended due to Seulgi slipping sleeping pills between her multivitamins. Before she has to do anything though, Yeojin has already taken charge.

From where she got it, Irene has no clue, but Yeojin is now dragging Haseul along with a cane off of her impromptu stage. Haseul protests, but is no match for her sister who has disposed of her roller skates. 

Just like the odd show started, it suddenly ended. The normal music slowly turns back up as Kesha begins to ‘Tik Tok’ and the atmosphere melts back into an easygoing vibe. Choerry has been rooted to the same spot since the dance started and is beginning to realize that she might need to actually… dance. 

She shudders. 

A foreign feeling fills her chest with every beat of the music making her heart pound more loudly. 

She tries to move her limbs in some coherent manner but it’s like trying to explain to someone who’s never walked before how to walk. A magnetic pull draws her towards the crowd while every fiber of her being buzzes with warning alarms. 

Yeojin and Hyunjin see her coming and beckon her over with the famous rope-pulling dance. Choerry tries to bound over in excitement like she normally does. She’s never really danced before. In fact, now that she thinks about it, she even gets shy about dancing in her own room with only ghosts and her cat to laugh at her.

As Shakira’s Waka Waka’s intensify and a conga line starts up, Haseul has made her way back on stage. Amidst the madness, Choerry’s heartbeat doesn’t feel healthy and her head is swimming. 

She’s having fun, right?  
Why isn’t she having fun?

As her dance moves cycle through the only ones she knows, she is ready to go home.  
No one seems to notice Choerry’s inner turmoil.  
Despite her moving her body, her brain seems rooted to the ground.

Chaeyoung shows up and gives Choerry an apologetic smile and bows low.  
“May I have this dance?” 

Say yes, Choerry thinks. Why isn’t her mouth moving?

“Choerry?” Chaeyoung’s voice seems more concerned.

Say yes.

The words and music meld into one wall of sound that she can’t seem to climb over.  
She puts her hands over her ears and screws her eyes closed in panic.

Why can’t she just be normal?

\-----------------------------------------

When she opens her eyes again, Choerry is not in the dizzying dance room anymore. The music has resigned to a meek pulse against the cabin walls and she’s sitting on a comfy lounge chair in the corner of a room. 

“Choerry!” 

A kind, excited voice catches her attention. It’s Seulgi, the head nurse. She’s seated at a small circular table with other girls who separately seem to be focusing intently. When Choerry doesn’t move, the head nurse comes over to Choerry’s side and kneels down.

“You feeling better? Your CIT brought you in because she said your head was hurting?”

“Oh? Uh yeah I guess so…I’m better now!”

And she is, because it’s a lot less loud, and the lighting is muted and soft in this corner of the main cabin. She is also very curious why campers are allowed to not be on the dance floor. Wasn’t dancing mandatory?

Seulgi seems to notice her confusion

“You don’t have to dance, you know? You don’t have to fake being sick either, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Choerry nods and they walk over towards the table. She looks over her shoulder noticing a sign over her previous chair in the corner adorning it “THE QUIET CHAIR”.

“Come on, I think you’ll like what we do over here on the quiet sides of things.” 

Seulgi ushers Choerry down to where she had been sitting beforehand. She’s surprised to see two of her cabin-mates already sitting there quietly working on a project.

“Hyejoo?” She says in surprise, “Chaewon, what are you guys doing here?”

The two girls look up from their coloring page, looking decidedly drained from the long day but enjoying their peaceful time. 

“ ‘Sup Choerry,” Chaewon throws up a lazy peace sign. 

“Hi.” Hyejoo gives her a gracious nod.

(Choerry sighs in relief that they’ve remembered her name)

“Come to hang out with the cool kids?” Another slightly beat-up looking camper asks with a twinge of annoyance. Her arm is in a cast and she admittedly looks upset to not be on the dance floor. 

“Soeun hey,” Seulgi coos, “We chair-danced, remember?” 

The CIT who Choerry remembers vividly from the mime performance chirps up, 

“Yeah! We could do finger-tutting nex- … Um, nevermind.” She stops when Soeun tries to wiggle her cast and grimaces.

Seulgi laughs and points to Soeun’s coloring page which has obviously been drawn with her non-dominant hand. It’s supposed to be a pair of coconuts but looks more abstract than the usual depiction of Cocos nucifera.

“You can put that on the staff refrigerator. They’ll get a hoot out of it!” She says with admiration. Soeun seems placated and continues adding extra rainbows in the background.

Choerry settles down into her chair and can’t help but peek over at Hyejoo & Chaewon’s shared coloring page. 

It’s a strange amalgamation of both sides dark and light, which would put any master of chiaroscuro to shame. Basically it’s just a fantastical depiction of the racabi… what was its name again? Or at least that’s what she assumed. The head was that of a wolf, while the wings were an elaborate blue butterfly wings. 

She gets up the courage to say,

“That’s really pretty!” Choerry manages to squeak. Perhaps a bit too loudly for the quiet atmosphere but you had to give her points for trying. 

The duo looks up and laugh. Choerry’s face begins to flush but Chaewon speaks up.

“Yeah right, it’s supposed to be UGLY!” She fist pumps.  
“Going against the artistic hierarchy that dictates what is beautiful and what is not” Hyejoo agrees.

Choerry sputters, a bit confused but gives a winning smile, “H-Ha! It’s ugly! Yeah!”  
Before she can question if that was the correct response she grabs the first coloring page on the pile and slaps it down at her place. 

A… fangirl Twilight coloring page?

“Team Edward, nice one Choerry!” Yeonhee gushes.  
Before Choerry has a chance to quickly change her page Chaewon grabs her wrist and begins to chant in a surprisingly low voice

“Team Jacob Team Jacob Team JACOB TEAM JACOB!!!”

The table quickly devolves into a civil war over the two hotties of the Twilight series and Choerry doesn’t get the chance to ask what Twilight is exactly about. (She’d never seen it, but she heard that one of the other cabins had a dramatic reading of the second book last night).

Before things get out of hand and her precious art supplies gets thrown as handmade projectiles, Seulgi distracts them with a beautiful dance. 

Only Yeonhee becomes distressed when she compares it to Jacob and Bella dancing in the forest and begins tearing up.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

After the dance party and the coloring page party have come to an end the camp reconvenes. The tables and chairs are put back into their original locations. Choerry traipses to the re-assembled Cabin 1 with her two cabin-mates. She had actually gotten to have a bit of a conversation with them after the Twilight debate had cooled down. 

Clover takes her usual position in front of the room with Seulgi as her trusty side-kick. She clears her throat and begins her evening spiel. 

“Well, that was… interesting… I mean quite the evening activity wasn’t it everyone?”

The crowd nods and laughs. Meanwhile Haseul is vibrating in her seat for the announcement of the winner of the costume contest. 

Irene seems to feel Haseul’s eyes burning through her and checks her notepad, “Alrighty, the winner this year was decided based on their dance moves. A handful of panel judges aka Winnie the Pooh..”

Seulgi raises her hand her helpfully.

“Evaluated everyone’s dance moves and has decided the winner is…”

Yeojin’s mind replays the packed night’s events night. Haseul and her disturbing performance had been an obvious highlight. She had packed a cane for Auction Night and it had come in very handy. It had shocked new campers but it was just a usual walk in the park for her family. 

Not that she was any less weird than her sister, Haseul just seemed to get away with it more easily. Her performances weren’t ‘acting out’… they were ‘modern art’. Yeojin vividly remembered her grade school’s talent show and how in 3rd grade she had perfectly rapped a modified version of Busta Rhymes’ Break Ya Neck and had only gotten a smattering of applause. 

Her sister had innocently done a performance to the very much not-clean version of Pony. How that had gotten past the school censor monitors in the audition process, she had no clue. Maybe it had something to do with Haseul being president of Student Council? Anyway, she had done it like a Shakespearian soliloquy with all the pompous air of a theatre kid. She had even brought up a tiny wooden rocking horse and it’s mechanical neighs accompanied her theatrical rendition. 

Tears and applause exploded afterwards as Yeojin looked around in confusion, begrudgingly clapping along. The prize that year was two tickets to Six Flags so she wasn’t too upset. Especially when Haseul was nice enough to bring her along. 

Still… it just was like an itch sometimes. Like no matter how hard she tried she’d always be in her sister’s shadow. But she guessed that was just the way it was for all younger siblings. Nothing she could do but keep being herself and rapping away quietly in the closet at home. 

So, it came as no surprise when Irene announced Haseul’s name. Her sister ran up to the front of the room to take Soojin’s desert (none other than a triple layer Red Velvet cake) and bring it back to their table. As Irene continued the announcements, she dug in with gusto -- only stopping to slap away Yeojin’s hands on her left and also sneakily feed some to Vivi on her right.

“It’s getting late so I’ll make this quick. As you all have probably already heard, tomorrow is Auction Night. Your counselors should have explained it last night, so I’ll just go over some forbidden items.”

“Ooh,” Yeojin whispers conspiratorially to Choerry, who giggles.

Seulgi walks up with a rather long list and hands it over. Irene puts on her reading glasses because it was written haphazardly in scary-looking red crayon. 

“Alright,” She ahems, “Last year we had a problem with a camper bringing in poison ivy, so we will make it crystal clear this year. There will be NO poison leaves or anything remotely poisonous or harmful to campers or counselors on the list this year.”

Chaeyoung sighs in relief. 

It makes Choerry wonder if there was something like that on the list in past years.

“Also no sharp or pointy objects such as scissors, kitchen knives, swords, arrows, brass knuckles (not sharp but still dangerous), or cactuses!”

“Please refrain from drawing the items on scratch paper and try to pass them off as legit. We won’t be fooled this year.” Seulgi adds

Vivi hums innocently and twiddles her thumbs, known to be a fantastically realistic artist. 

“Lastly, if a fight breaks out this year we will be forced to sick the camp security on you.”

The counselor Choerry remembers to be Chuu pipes up, “That’s me!”  
She flashes her toned muscles which are scarier in contrast to her cheerful smile.

“Yes,” Irene continues, without a trace of joking about subduing campers by force, “Please everybody be on your best behavior. Remember the winner this year will get a special pizza party and an advantage for the Counselor Hunt!”

The campers murmur amongst themselves, already excited for the next day’s events.  
Yeojin is still prepared to beat up anybody who will try to steal her specially bought merchandise. But she’ll keep that to herself.  
Choerry is still pondering her Mom’s offer about going home after the third day.

But the night continues on, campers filing out the door still in their colorful array of eighties inspired clothing. Climbing up the big hill, Yeojin grabs her hand when Choerry almost face-plants because of her sandals. 

“Thanks,” She says bashfully, her cheeks dusting with pink

They arrive at their beautiful, homely cabin with a lo-fi version of Roman Holiday now playing on the speakers. Haseul and Vivi go to their side of the cabin, Haseul already slowly taking off her Beetlejuice costume sadly. The campers begin changing into their pajamas and snuggle into their warm beds. 

Choerry holds her teddy bear in front of her face once the lights have dimmed. She proceeds to have a telepathic conversation with him. 

“You could give it one more day, you know? It’s not all bad.”  
“Yeah, but-“  
“What will Hyunjin say? She’ll be disappointed if you aren’t there to hunt her down on Thursday. She even gave you instructions how to find her with those cryptic clues of hers.”  
“I guess… but I’ve already almost fallen into a pit walking around the woods.”

“Hmm.” Her teddy bear concedes. It could be dangerous to walk around in the dead of night.

She puts Teddy to the side much to his dismay and decides to call it a night.  
Besides, either way, she’s going to need plenty of energy for tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That feeling when dancing should be fun times but the world is scary, and your counselor is dressed up as Beetlejuice, and you're immune to poison ivy. 
> 
> This chapter is brought to you by: Eggdog ™, sleeping pills, and your friendly neighborhood Racabifrosikabetowlbatpengswabutwolf
> 
> EDIT: 12/27/20 Guess who started writing the 5th chapter and found out it was way too long and nothing was even happening yet? lol So enjoy this addition to this chapter for now! Early Merry Christmas y'all!


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